12/1/07 – 12/15/07

Our flight from Newark, NJ via Continental was thankfully uneventful. We landed a few minutes early, our car with Kenny’s Car Rental was ready with Seaforth, Leslie’s brother-in-law manning the business while Leslie and family were sadly in New York, as many will have known. The car was comfortable with good air and radio. Thank you Seaforth for being there for us and making our car rental easy, as usual.

We checked into our room as soon as we arrived at the Royal Islander which was around 1:30 PM and got to spend a relaxing day at the pool and meet with our annual group of friends that were already at the timeshare. This is when we found out that the daughter of our friends, who got married last year at the gazebo, had won a whopping $10,000 at Let It Ride with a Royal Flush after just her second hand playing. The casino paid her her money and escorted her immediately across the street to the timeshare so that she could safeguard the money. Two days later she also got a 4 of a kind. It couldn’t have happened to a better person too!

Our trip was basically uneventful as we spent most of our time hanging out at the pool. We got to meet Tom for the first time although we have been vacationing at RI the same time year after year. Such a nice person! Hope you got to get over to Friars like you wanted to….

The weather was beautiful with only 2 – 5 minute brief showers occasionally, just to break up the monotony. I learned that the perfect place to spend those 3 – 5 minutes is sitting in the Hot Tub where the rain didn’t bother me at all and kept me warm during the breezy outbursts.

We did visit Friar’s Beach one of the first days on the island with our friends Grace and Gene. We took our place by Kali’s and I got to enjoy their cheeseburger platter which is my favorite burger on the island. The water was so calm and refreshing and we managed to get chairs under the palm trees so it felt like we were on some tropical island…. Oh wait…. we were on a tropical island!

We also did our annual Cheri’s dinner with Grace and Gene. The show is basically the same with a few minor changes but cute none-the-less. Their food is basic so for newbies, don’t expect much, but for us it is a tradition and so convenient for us as well since it’s just across the street. Rick pointed out that Sugarae was sitting behind us so I went over to reintroduce myself. By the smiles on their faces, they were also having a good time.

One thing that happened was soooo unexpected. Grace and Gene have a son, Rocky, who has been to SXM a few times with his family (Mary and their 3 young children). This year he told his family he could not go so when we wanted to joke around, we e-mailed him the “Elf” Christmas Card that most of you have already seen with our 4 faces dancing…. He answered back a few choice words about how we were in sunshine and they were in the cold bleak weather of NJ. Well… on Saturday I was floating in the pool and all of a sudden I heard Rick laughing so hard and so I opened my eyes to see Rocky and his beaming family walking toward me! That was such a great surprise for Grace and Gene who adore their grandchildren. They all had a great time and we were so happy to see them. Rocky and Mary knew they were coming to the island but kept it a secret from his parents and even their children who would have most probably given it away.

For dining, we stuck mostly close to home since they have excellent restaurants in Maho. We had our anniversary dinner at the Paris Bistro and got to say hello once again to Bernard. We also enjoyed Bajatzu, Soprano’s, and the Fashion Café for our dinners. The Fashion Café is a cute place under La Terrasse that makes a wonderful thin crust pizza. For us, one pizza is enough to split. On the last evening, the adorable waitress even threw in a refreshing tossed salad. So for those that want something light, this is a good place to go.

We went to Soprano’s 3 times in the 2 weeks. That is a record for us. We loved their food and again, very convenient. Bajatzu was our first experience and loved it as well. The name is deceiving as it has great steaks and it’s wise to make a reservation as it gets crowded. This is the first year we didn’t go to Pizza Pasta and that is only because there was always a wait for a table. If you do decide to go there, make a reservation first! During this time of season, they get crowded due to their great selections.

During our 2 weeks I tried to get over to Tabba Khady to finally meet Philippe before he closed his doors forever. Unfortunately my timing was horrible and I happened to choose an evening that included gale force winds and driving rains. We did manage to eventually get over there, maneuvering the dark, desolate roads on the Orient Beach side. It was terrifying due to the rain and darkness and truthfully, we will NEVER do it again at night. But despite the weather and horrifying roads, it was an enjoyable evening. I finally got to meet Philippe who was exactly as I would have expected….a very kind gentleman who was very appreciative of our efforts to get there and did his best to accommodate us (as well as his other guests) despite the weather. Thank you Philippe! It was a great pleasure to finally meet you. Also, congratulations of finding your place in the sun and I wish you a truly successful future.

As I also mentioned in a prior thread, I took an adventurous journey to Philipsburg on my own one of the days via the public bus and I have to say that the whole experience was a complete delight. I never feared for my car, parking, or really any other inconveniences as the bus was simple to get in both directions. I also got to see some back roads that I would have never known were there (due to traffic) and it really didn’t take much longer than driving.

I window shopped to my hearts delight, picked up some chachkies, had a really delightful lunch at Tuloula Mango’s and listened to some great Raggae music while eating, as well as an unexpected side show from a girl from one of the cruise ships.

Getting the return bus was as simple as walking to Back Street and hailing any bus that said “Mullet”. All in all, worth doing this every trip now, even if I’m not going to buy anything. This first experience will remain as one of the highlights of this trip.

We never really got to any of the restaurants in Simpson Bay except we did have a really “perfect day” by first stopping at Rainbow to see the progress on our Condo. Then we ventured over to the Atlantis Casino to make a few deposits. On to Pineapple Pete’s to have an early dinner. At 4:55 PM there was absolutely NO TRAFFIC getting there! I couldn’t believe my eyes. As soon as we were seated, the rains and winds came and we watched as the traffic began to build. Phewwww….. Like I said, a perfect day. They had a great Cream of Asparagus Soup and Rick had the Philly Cheese Steak and I had the Chicken Satay, salad, and fries. Both were good and afterwards we played a few rounds of pool. Then we paid our bill, headed back to RI where the elevator was there waiting for us in the garage. Then once inside RI, the elevator was once again waiting for us.

Every night we visited the Casino Royale and I am happy to say that on the last night I recouped almost all my money spent during the 2 weeks we were on the island. Let It Ride was good to me with a Full house and Flush. The day before I tried my hand at 3 card poker and won almost every game I played. The men on either side of me were amazed at my hands. Talk about beginners luck. I even got a straight flush the second time I tried. But I also know when to walk away. Every time I said I would leave when I lost I kept winning. People were laughing…. Then finally I did lose a hand and got up. With 3 card poker, take your winnings while you can or else your winnings will disappear and fast!

This year our trip ended on a good note. We dropped our cell phone back at Sharon’s store, stopped at Turtle Pier to have a nice breakfast of a Mango pancake, sausage, bacon, and homefries and then to the airport to check in our bags. Check in was painless with few people in front of us. I bought some pretzel items from the Pretzel store. The hot dog wrapped in Pretzel was an easy carry on dinner for our trip home. Our plane was on time, the airport comfortable and accommodating and we arrived into Newark a few hours before the bad weather started. I was exhausted and went to bed early but all in all, it was a great trip and hopefully we will be returning in March or April to close on our Condo.